How Do You Like Me Now?
by Magus732
Summary: A distant cousin of Max comes to stay for awhile... what kind of madness will the Storm Hawks face with their new guest onboard? FinnxOC... Rated for later chapters... Ch. 5 is up!
1. First Impression

As Max and Starling made their way toward the bridge, an all-too-familiar sound reached their ears. Max rolled his eyes as the sound approached them. Starling joined him in side-stepping a furious Piper chasing a frightened Finn, both chuckling a bit at the blond's predicament. Another mindless day on the _Condor_.

"Max, someone's here to see you, and she seems... a bit weird... says she knows you really well and HEY, DON'T TOUCH THAT!!!" Stork suddenly began yelling into the intercom. The 2 lovebirds shared a look of concern and raced toward the door. As it "whooshed" open, Max pulled free his kamas.

"Alright, hands where I can see them!" He shouted into the room. He suddenly came to a halt as Starling plowed into the back of him.

"Max, what's wrong?" She came around to follow his stare, and he saw a bubbly, grey-skinned Onyxian female waving happily to them from near a distraught Stork. The Merb stood staring at the newcomer, protectively covering the controls as she danced around the bridge. As they stepped closer, she came up and hugged Max tightly, staring into his eyes as she pulled away and greeted him.

"Max,it'sbeensolong!IthoughtI'dneverseeyouagain!Wereallyneedtostayintouchmore!How'slifebeentoyou?It'sbeengoodtomesofar!Ican'tbelieveyou'reaStormHawknow!" This high-speed ranting continued for several more seconds until Max growled loudly.

"SHUT UP!!!!" He yelled as loud as he could, bringing her to a sudden stop. Her eyes softened a bit.

"There's only one person I know who's _this_ annoying, and that's my dear cousin Saerah!" He continued yelling, but slowly smiled as she squealed in joy.

"Ohhh! You remember me!" She said sweetly, hugging him again.

"Oh, yes... I can assure you; you are _not_ easy to forget..." He said wearily, getting a tired look on his face as the other came to see what was going on.

"Max, what's up? Who's your friend?" Piper suddenly cut in as she came to Stork's side.

"OhmyGod!It'sreallyyou!You'rePiper!I'vereadallaboutyou!Thisisthebestdayofmylife!Ican'tbelieveI'!I'myourbiggestfan!Tellme,?Doesitgetlonely?DoesStarlingspend ?Shedoesn'tseemlikethatkindofgirl!" She resumed her nearly incomprehensible barrage of questions and statements as Piper smiled nervously, blushing a bit and unable to get in a word edgewise.

"SAERAH!!!!" Max suddenly cut in.

"Thank you." He then turned to face Piper, who was as surprised as anyone at Max's treatment of this girl.

"Piper, this is my cousin, Saerah." He squeezed Starling's hand, and shoved her forward a bit. The veteran Sky Knight silently begged him not to by trying to dig her heels into the floor.

"Saerah, this is my mate, Starling." He smiled evilly as the young woman was barraged herself. He knew what Starling would do to him later, but it was totally worth the look on her face.

"Max, help!" She whispered as the girl continued her tirade.

"Okay, Saerah, that's enough for now. Mind telling us why you're here?" He smiled slyly as she lowered her head in sadness, her happy fanaticism cut short by business.

"Well, my parents are... um... they're away... and I kinda need a place to stay for awhile..." She looked a bit sadder than before, but said nothing else.

"Well, I don't know... I'll have to ask my team..." He smiled; he knew they'd never say no to him. Not on something like this. They began giving their 2 cents worth, but Aerrow cut them all short.

"Space'll be a bit tight, but you're welcome here as long as you need... a friend of Max is a friend of ours..." He said heroically. He received a angry glare from his teammates, but he knew he'd made the right call. He couldn't say "no"; it was against his nature.

"Yay!!" She began skipping around, happily singing a song loudly.

"I'm gonna stay with the Storm Hawks, I'm gonna stay with the Storm Hawks, I'm gonna stay with the Storm Hawks..." Max rolled his eyes at the angry glares _he_ received.

"Saerah..."

"I'm gonna stay with the Storm Hawks..."

"Saerah, you really need-"

"I'm gonna stay with the Storm Haw-"

"WILL YOU LISTEN TO ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU!?" She stopped skipping and turned to face Max obediently.

"I expect you to be on your best behavior, young lady..." He said in a condescending, parental tone.

"Awww..." She said sadly, her face drooping a bit as her ears folded back.

"C'mon, I'll take you to your room... then we'll walk around a bit, okay?" The young hybrid squealed again, this time nearly deafening the Hawks as she and Max left the bridge. Starling stared, slack-jawed, at their retreating forms.

"Starling? You okay?" Aerrow waved a hand in front of her face. She jumped a bit, coming back to reality.

"_She's_ related to _him_!?" She suddenly said. The Hawks all groaned; this was going to be... interesting...

Author's Note: Watch my profile for Saerah's info... and review, please... I want your souls- I mean reviews... heh-heh... (sweatdrops)


	2. Discussion

"3967, 3968, 3969, 3970, 3971..." Max counted out loud as he did pushups in his personal gym. This went on until Starling came in, a few minutes after he'd switched to sit-ups.

"Please, don't get up for my sake..." She teased, seeing him in the middle of one as she casually walked over.

"Very funny... I'm up to 629... mind spotting me?" He smiled slyly, but her frown convinced him to stop, get up and brush the sweat off his forehead. She sat on the edge of a chair nearby, which placed her uncomfortably close to a steel mannequin. She mulled over the strike points outlined on its body, and her eyes widened when she saw that it was for melee combat training, not target practice. As he came closer, she smiled slightly.

"You train with steel practice dummies?" She asked, clearly concerned.

"Of course. Who doesn't?" He answered casually, as though it was normal. She simply shook her head and continued.

"Max, we need to talk about-"

"Saerah... yes, I imagine you have a few _questions_..." He hissed out the last word, almost in disgust.

"Max, why didn't you tell me your uncle had kids?"

"Which uncle are you talking about? I have a few... this one has a daughter with a few... problems..."

"So what? That means you get to treat her like crap?"

"Of course not! How could you say such a thing!?" He suddenly shot back, noticeable hurt by her accusation.

"Max, what I saw out there was not love and affection..."

"Not by _your_ standards... you humans have strange ways of showing love... you basically had to spell it out for me when _we_ got together..."

"That's different, Max, and you know that..."

"Starling, you simply don't understand..."

"What's to understand? She's your cousin... you should treat her like family..."

"She's not close family, and even if she was, she's still abnormal..."

"Max, how can you say that!? She may be different, but she _is_ your cousin..."

"That may matter to _you_, but it doesn't to me... it never has..." He turned away sharply, trying to hide whatever expression was on his face. Starling scowled at him, unsure of what else to say.

"Well, why _doesn't_ it matter to you?" She inquired.

"Because she's Onyxian... she's expected to behave a certain way; be proud of our cultural heritage... instead, she flaunts her father's wealth, buying expensive excesses that only serve to fuel her... I suppose you could call it 'greed'..." He turned to face her, a stern expression clear on his face. She grimaced a bit, not expecting him to be so sudden in entering such a foul mood.

"Then maybe her staying here isn't such a good idea... I mean, if _that's_ the kind of love and affection she can look forward to, I can think of plenty of other places to get it from..."

"What are you suggesting? That I don't care about her?" He narrowed his eyes; Max was always an enigma when dealing with family, especially his own.

"No, no... I just mean that I wouldn't want her to feel unwanted, that's all..."

"So, you're saying she should live somewhere else..." He pieced together what she was trying to get at.

"In short, yes..." She answered with a heavy sigh.

"Well, it's not your decision to make... it's mine, and I've decided that she's staying..." With that finality, the tall warrior strode out of the room, throwing his cloak over his shoulders and securing it in place as he walked.

_Meanwhile..._

"So, Saerah..." Aerrow tried once more to get the girl's attention. She had her focus wrapped around a suddenly self-conscious Radarr, who cowered back to stay out of her grasp. The poor fuzzball had hidden himself in an overhead cabinet, and the young lady trying to reach for him struggled desperately to stretch her fingers far enough. She willed the little guy closer, but to no avail. Finally, fed up with his mistreatment, Radarr leapt onto her, sinking his teeth into her shoulder. Saerah yelped in pain as he scurried over to Aerrow. The redhead put up a protective stance as she came closer, but the chaos subsided as her caretaker entered the bridge. The scowl on his face told them he'd fought with Starling, but no one dared question why. When he was angry, Max would attack _anyone_ who got on his nerves.

"So, what's the verdict?" Piper said hesitantly. The pointed glare she received told her what she wanted to know; Starling said 'no', he said 'yes', and now she was sulking in their room, waiting for him to return so they could argue some more.

"She's staying..."

"Yay-!"

"But..." His prompt statement interrupted her joyous skipping.

"If you're going to stay here, you're going to learn to be useful... at dawn tomorrow, you'll begin your training... I'll expect to see you up by then, or there _will _be consequences..." His deadly glare shifted to his cousin, who cowered a bit as he stared her down. She gulped loudly as the older Onyxian smiled; a twisted, evil smile.

"O...kay... anything we can help with, Max?" Aerrow offered helpfully. The Onyxian thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"No... I'm afraid you're ill-equipped to train an Onyxian..." He answered, with a somewhat haughty tone. Piper rolled her eyes.

"Well, just let us know if you need anything..."

"Oh, I'll need you all; except Aerrow. No offense, but anything you can teach her, I can teach more efficiently..." He smiled a bit; he meant to be polite, but didn't quite hit the mark.

"Oh..." The Sky Knight responded dejectedly, hanging his head a bit. Seeing this, and hearing the disappointment in his voice, Max scowled and thought of a compromise.

"Well, now that I think about it, I _could_ use your help, Aerrow... after all, you're the best Skimmer pilot we have..." His admission came as a complete surprise; he almost never complimented his teammates, other than an occasional word of encouragement to Stork or Starling.

"Really? You think so?" Aerrow's eyes lit up. Max's smiled widened quite a bit.

"I don't _think_ so... I _know_ so..." He offered. The expression on Aerrow's face said it all; high praise from the master.

"Alright, guys... looks like Saerah's here to stay..."


	3. Revelations

"Again!" A voice rang out through the hangar deck. Following this was the sound of someone grunting in effort. Soon, a cry of pain, followed by a loud, metallic "thump".

"Again!" The voice stated once more. The sound of flesh hitting steel became more clear. Then, another cry and "thump", as a body hits the floor.

"Again! Remember to dodge after each strike!" The voice insisted, followed by the sound of something being dragged across the floor. As the Storm Hawks listened closely through the hangar bay door, they couldn't help but wonder what was going on inside.

...

"Again! With more fury!" Max called out, watching with intensity as Saerah pounded her closed fists into the steel dummy. Once more, the dummy fell down, slamming into the steel deck with unneeded force. The young woman fawned over her bleeding knuckles.

"Max, can I _please_ stop now!? My hands are starting to swell up..." She whined loudly. The older Onyxian simply shook his head, pointing to the dummy as he walked over to put it back up.

"If you're going to learn how to fight, you'll need to learn how to endure pain... otherwise, you're useless..." He gave her a look that said it all; punch it again.

"But, Max, my arms are tired, my hands are bleeding, and I can't take much more of this..." She let out a soft sob, and the Hawks heard an unmistakable sound; one very loud slap. It made the teenagers (and Starling) gasp softly. The sobbing started to resume. They all cringed at the sound that followed it; another loud slap.

"Don't ever let me catch you crying... a warrior must always keep their emotions in check..." That statement spoke volumes about Max. As the Hawks listened more intently, they heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Quickly, they scattered away from the door, finding a place to keep out of sight.

"Stay here... I'll be right back..." Max called back as he opened the door and walked out. The hybrid sighed loudly after the door closed.

"Alright, you can come out of hiding now..." He said, knowing that their guilt at eavesdropping would make them show. They skittishly came out of hiding, all staring down at the floor. Starling was the first to look up and speak.

"Max, do you have to be so-" She began, but to her dismay, not only did he completely ignore her, he started walking toward his room without saying a word. When he came back, clutching a rather large book in his long fingers, he scowled at his nosy teammates.

"How I train her is my business, not yours... this is how I was trained, and she's no better than I was... at first..." He re-entered the hangar bay. Starling followed closely behind; she was the only one who dared stand up to him.

"How can you be so heartless? This young girl is crying in pain, and your response is to tell her to 'tough it out'? What kind of teacher _are_ you!?" She quickly found herself pinned against a wall. Max stared her down, the bloodlust in his eyes adding to his already deadly glare.

"How _dare_ you question me! You know as well as I do that _no one_ can beat me in fight! If she's going to learn, she'll learn from the best there is!!" He released her, watching with an evil smile as she panted a bit, trying to regain her breath. His expression suddenly softened.

"Don't mistake my toughness for cruelty, or my indifference to her pain as a lack of concern. I _do_ care, but our enemies do not. She must learn, as I did, that to fight, one must ignore pain." The tall man helped her to her feet, smiling ever so slightly.

"I realise that it is difficult, as a human, to understand my ways. Onyxians are built differently; ignoring pain is rather easy for us. One simply has to learn to fight through the pain that one _does_ feel." His rather arrogant statement caught the Interceptor by surprise. He rarely doted upon her the annals of Onyxian superiority he learned as a cadet, but when they did come out, they made an insane sort of sense. She sniffled a bit as she turned around.

"What?" Max inquired, seeing her tears before she could hide it.

"Nothing..." She answered innocently.

"Tell me..." He demanded sternly; he had no idea that it was only making things worse.

"I don't want to, now that I'm leaving..." She quickly made for the door, but a strong, 4-fingered hand stopped her short. She quickly found herself spun around.

"Starling, what's the matter with you? You haven't acted this way since-" And that's when the realization hit him like a ton of bricks. She had once told he one of her deepest secrets, and it involved her personal preference; she liked being dominated. She _enjoyed_ pain. And his statement had taken her back to when she first told him; right after she'd lost her squadron.

"Starling?" He slowly pulled her into a soft hug. Her eyes filled with tears, and the veteran Sky Knight broke down and cried in his arms, her face buried in his shoulder.

"It's okay, love... it's alright... shh..." He comfortingly rubbed the back of her head, and the sudden commotion had convinced the rest of the Storm Hawks to join them in the hangar.

"Guys, what's going on?" Piper asked, eyeing the pair as she slid to a stop.

"It's nothing... Starling just... needs a few minutes..." He looked over to Saerah, who'd taken a seat over on one of the benches near the Skimmers.

"Saerah, you may go and rest... we'll pick this up again tomorrow..." She quickly walked toward her room, where she spent the next 3 hours showering and tending her wounded hands.

"Starling, it's okay... let it out..." He held her close, his uniform soaking up her tears as she wailed into his shoulder. The other Hawks couldn't help but wonder what was going on. The tall Onyxian sighed loudly, and began telling them her story; how Max came to mean so much to her, and how he came to understand _her_ pain...


	4. Chance Discovery

"A sadist sleeping with a masochist... a perfect match, I think..." Stork said darkly. The other Storm Hawks glared at him. The pilot merely smiled sheepishly. They were waiting for Starling to calm down enough to talk.

"Piper, did Starling ever tell you about what happened to her squadron?" Aerrow asked softly, trying not to sound nosy.

"Why would she do that!?" She shot back indignantly.

"Because you're the one she'd most likely trust with that kind of information, aside from Max, of course..." Stork answered flatly.

"And because you're a _girl_!" Finn insisted. Piper placed her hands on her hips and scowled angrily.

"And what's _that_ supposed to mean, Finn!?"

"It _means_ girls share things with each other that boys usually don't..." Stork interceded on Finn's behalf; he saw where the blond was going with this line of thinking, and knowing his way with words...

"Well, it doesn't matter, because she didn't tell me anything!"

"I'm gonna go see how Saerah's doin'." Finn suddenly excused himself.

"No offense, Finn, but... that doesn't sound like you..." Aerrow suddenly said. The others nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, well... maybe I just need to clear my head a bit!" He marched off, leaving the rest of the Hawks stunned; he'd never acted like that before.

"What's gotten into Finn?" Junko said to no one in particular.

_Meanwhile..._

"I can't believe this is happening to me! First, I lose my parents, and now I have to live with _Max_! Could this get any worse?" Saerah swore under her breath. She was a very happy person normally, but in those few moments that she wasn't, Atmos help _anyone_ who made her feel any worse. She suddenly heard a soft knock at her door.

"Who is it?" She called sweetly through to her guest.

"It's Finn. I, uh... I wanted to see how you're doin'."

"Oh. Well, I'm okay, I guess... still a little sore."

""Can I... get you anything?" The blonde called in nervously. He hesitated to do anything that could later be regarded as "flirting". As pretty as she was- "_Pretty! Hell, she's a total babe!_" Finn thought to himself. Dwelling on the thought of Saerah's soft curves, he stood dumbly in front of the door, fully unaware that he was getting hard. It was several minutes before he realized just what it was he was doing and returned to reality. Apparently, he _could_ get over the fact that she was related to Max. He screamed in a girly voice when he finally noticed her standing in the open doorway, hands crossed in mute curiosity.

"Saerah! Hehe... how long you been standin' there?" He asked nervously. She giggled softly.

"Long enough to see that!" She giggled cutely, pointing to the erection in his pants. Her face had darkened with a blush, and the marksman could feel his own face heating up. His cheeks were beet red when she came over and slowly traced her long finger under his chin.

"I had _no_ idea you felt that way about me, Finn." She cooed sexily. Finn just beamed his shy, goofy smile and mumbled incoherently.

"Oh, it's okay, Finn. I'm sure we can come to some... understanding." She again traced her finger under his chin, this time bringing his eyes up to meet hers. He whimpered shyly, trying to move away before Max caught wind of what was going on. The young woman drew even closer, pulling the helpless blond into a hot kiss. He gasped in surprise and struggled to break free, desperate not to get caught kissing her. But she was just too strong.

"Mm-mm... mm..." He began to close his eyes in content, feeling her warm, wet tongue work its way between his lips and into his mouth. He moaned in pleasure as she licked around inside his mouth, carefully moving his hands from her shoulders to her back. She pulled the sharpshooter even closer, pinning him against the wall as they moaned into each other's mouths. Saerah grabbed him by the waist, wrenching him free with a rough pull.

"Come with me..." She said hotly. And like a horny teenage boy, he followed her obediently. They went back into her room, where she closed the door and leapt onto him like an animal, plastering his face and neck with rough, feral kisses. He moaned in surprise as she pushed him onto her bed, kissing his neck hotly as he squirmed a bit from her soft touch.

"Don't worry, Finn... I may seem like a naïve, happy-go-lucky kinda girl, but I _know_ what men want..." She whispered into his ear, at which he whimpered a bit in anticipation. He followed her hands with his eyes, and watched with excitement as she pulled back the elastic waistband of his uniform pants and slid her long, black tongue into his boxers. With a sultry giggle, she began licking up and down his 10-inch erection, pinning him helplessly against the bed as she tasted his shaft. He moaned hotly as her warm, wet tongue coated his cock and balls with saliva, groaning and whimpering when she knelt down to take it even further. She pulled his pants down around his ankles, hearing a whimpering moan of excitement, and began slowly sliding him in. He shuddered in delight as she engulfed his manhood, gently placing both hands on the back of her head as she bobbed up and down heartily.

"Oh, Saerah!" He half-moaned/half-cried as she picked up the pace even more, feeling the throbbing in his cock grow stronger with each bob. Finally, after a few more, he came into her mouth, and she moaned in content while swallowing his hot load. As he panted lightly, she kissed the head of his cock and slid his boxers and pants back up.

"Mmmm... was that good for you, big man?" She asked teasingly, knowing full well that it was.

"Saerah, that... was amazing..." He said between ragged breaths, still recovering from his orgasm.

"Well, if you think _that_ was amazing, you haven't seen anything yet, Finn..." She moved to kiss him, firmly planting her lips over his. At first, he hesitated. But when he didn't taste anything different on her lips, he embraced the kiss. She moved his hands to cover her firm breasts. As they finally broke their kiss, she cooed sexily.

"Come back, tomorrow night, and I promise you won't be disappointed..." She winked to him. As he nodded shyly, his blush returned. She giggled softly. As the door closed behind him, Finn gulped softly and thought to himself, "_Man, Max is gonna _kill_ me._"


	5. Failure

"I'm... sorry about what happened yesterday, guys..." Starling spoke softly, her eyes still slightly red from all the crying. Piper sat next to her on the couch, where she offered the former Interceptor another tissue; she politely refused.

"It's okay, Starling... glad to see you're doing better..." Aerrow offered comfortingly. She gave him a small smile.

"Hey, Aerrow, where's Finn?" Junko suddenly stated. The others looked around; the blond wasn't just missing, he'd never even shown up.

"I don't know, Junko... maybe you should go look for him..." The Sky Knight suggested absently.

"Sure thing, Aerrow..." The Wallop went off after the marksman. Little did he know, Finn was on a search of his own.

_Meanwhile_...

"Where _are_ those damned things? C'mon! C'mon!!" Finn frantically searched through his dresser drawers, desperate to find something he felt was important.

"What the hell did I do with those things?" He scratched his head in confusion.

"Ohhh, Fi-inn?" Someone called in sweetly. The blond suddenly shot straight up, sweat building on his brow.

"Who is it?" He asked nervously. A soft, feminine giggle was his initial response.

"You know who it is, silly boy..." Saerah called in through the door. He gulped softly, suddenly nervous and unable to speak.

"C-c-come on in..." He stuttered. She slid the door open, clad in her bright pink bath robe. He laughed nervously and tugged on his collar.

"I thought maybe we'd... step things up a little... I think Max is getting suspicious..." She cooed, tracing one finger under his chin. He whimpered a little with excitement.

"Awww, you're so tense, baby... what's the matter?" She asked sweetly, pulling him closer. He stuttered incomprehensibly, unable to form a single word. She "awwed" and sat on his bed.

"You poor thing... c'mere and let me make you feel all better, big man..." She gave him a wicked, "come hither" smirk, and he willingly did as she commanded. She pulled him onto the bed, unzipped his uniform, pulled off his shirt slowly, and began kissing his chest softly. He moaned lightly as she licked around his sensitive nipples.

"Mmm... you humans are so fascinating, y'know... so full of daring for such a 'weak race'..." She kissed his chest farther and farther down, making her way to his pants. His raging hard-on threatened to tear through the crotch of his pants, and as she removed her robe and revealed her dark purple lingerie, he gulped loudly, getting very close to cumming in his pants.

"Baby, you're so hard..." She roughly grabbed the bulge in his pants, making him gasp in surprise. His cheeks beet red, he whimpered a bit as she slid his pants down, anticipation ready to overflow. His cock stood to attention once out of his boxers, and as he watched with wide eyes, she stripped off her underwear, her breasts bouncing sexily as she drew closer. She saw the look of pure lust in his eyes, and moaned sultrily. Pushing him flat on his back, she jumped up on top of him, sitting her naked body on his lap.

"Are you ready, Finn?" She asked softly, already knowing the answer. He nodded slowly, unable to speak. His eyes grew even wider as she spread her lips and slowly lowered herself onto his cock, letting out a moan of content as her womanhood was penetrated.

"Ohhh... you're so nervous... let's see if we can't fix that..." She placed her 4-fingered hands on his stomach and began bouncing up and down on his cock, hearing him moan loudly as she rode him.

"Oh, Saerah! You're so tight!!" He grabbed her hips and helped her ride him, which made her moan in pleasure.

"A... screamer, huh? I... like that..." She said between pants, feeling a light throbbing in his cock.

"Saerah! You're... so good! Have you... done this before?" He asked between pants, moaning louder as he felt her muscles beginning to tighten slightly.

"Nope. Pretty... good for a... first timer, huh?" She panted louder, letting herself go. They both panted and moaned, nearing their orgasms. The blond sat up a bit and reached up so he could fondle her bouncing breasts while bucking his hips in time with her, which made her moan even louder. After another minute or so, she felt him throbbing really hard, ready for release. She couldn't take any more herself.

"Oh, Finn!" She screamed as she finally came, shoving her hands hard into his stomach. As her walls tightened around his manhood, he moaned and came as well, slumping back to lie flat. They both panted heavily in exhaustion, Saerah falling back to lay down on his bed.

"Saerah, that was... _so_ good!" Finn finally found his voice. He tried to sit up but found he had no strength. _And_ his stomach hurt: a lot. He groaned in pain as he clutched his belly.

"Ohhh, baby, did I hurt you?" The young woman slid over next to him, kissing his cheek as she rubbed his stomach with her hand. When he winced at her touch, she pulled away.

"I'm sorry, Finn! I should've been more careful." She scolded herself. Finn again tried to sit up, but he immediately fell back down, clutching his stomach and nearly falling on the floor as he rolled over. Saerah kissed his injured abs, moving her way up to his lips as he moaned lightly in pleasure. They shared a passionate kiss, her tongue exploring his mouth as he felt her firm breasts resting on his chest. Suddenly, the door burst open, and the whole rest of the team, including Max, barged into Finn's room.

"Finn, we heard the yelling. What's-" Aerrow stopped in mid-sentence, his jaw dropping in shock. Everyone stared with huge eyes, until they heard Max gasp softly in surprise. Finn broke the kiss suddenly, Saerah moaning a bit in protest until she saw everyone standing there.

"Hey! Doesn't anybody knock first!?" She shouted angrily, blushing with embarrassment. When she turned to stare at Max, his eyes as big as saucers, she laughed nervously.

"So, ahh... I guess you figured who I'm seeing... hehe..." She smiled nervously, scared to death of what he might say or do now. Finn grabbed a towel lying nearby and covered himself, quickly making his way toward the exit. He cautiously skirted around Max, whose left eye was twitching as he attempted to process what he just saw. Suddenly, he clenched his hands into fists and yelled in anger.

"FINN, YOU'RE A DEAD MAN!!!" The blond ran down the hallway as fast as his legs would carry him, trying desperately to reach the hangar bay and the supposed safety of the open sky. He leapt onto his Skimmer and tried to get it to start. It merely chugged pitifully.

"C'mon!! C'MON!!!" He yelled scaredly. He leaned down to check something, flipped a switch, and the Skimmer started right up, letting him sigh with relief. He sat back up, and Max was staring down at him evilly. He yelled in panic.

"Max, wait! We can work this out!!" The marksman tried to smooth things over, but the Onyxian was unmoved. He clamped his hand around the blond's throat, lifting him off the Skimmer and roughly slamming him into a nearby wall. As Finn struggled to breath, Max eyed him like an animal might study its prey, his head cocked to one side as he scowled angrily. He pulled out one of his kamas with his free hand and powered it up, all without saying a word. The blond whimpered in terror.

"Max, stop!!!" Saerah tackled the older Onyxian, taking all 3 of them to the floor. Finn scurried off as fast as he could while Saerah tried to hold him back.

"Max! Max!! Stop it! You can't kill Finn! I love him!!!" She yelled, trying to get him to cease his thrashing toward the sharpshooter. After saying the latter, he dropped the kama to the floor, his eyes widened impossibly. Suddenly, the warrior's arm grew limp, causing Saerah to crash to the floor roughly. The others piled in to check on everyone. Starling ran over to Max, hoping to stop him.

"Max, what's going on!? What have you done!?" She demanded. He stared blankly at her, unable to find his voice.

"Max, please! I've never felt this way about anyone before. It _has_ to be love!" She insisted. Max's mouth dropped slowly, which covered with his hand. He ran out of the room, yelling something in Onyxian as he went.

"My Onyxian's a little rusty, Saerah... what did he just say?" Starling queried.

"He said, 'I've failed. I've completely failed.'"


End file.
